Everyone seems to have a favorite horse in the Dodger ownership race: Magic Johnson seems to be the favorite, followed by Stan Kroenke and Michael Heisley/Tony Ressler. It seems that no one wants Steve Cohen as owner and that puzzles me. I think Cohen is the best choice and here’s why:
- The cost of the Dodgers might only be 15% to 20% of his net worth, which means that less revenue will have to allocated to re-pay debt. The deal is more than the net worth of Johnson and Kasten combined and the deal is probably around 50% of the net worth of the others. Cohen is offering the most cash, which means less debt and more club revenue can be spent on the team.
- Any potential legal issues that Cohen has with the SEC (and it looks like there aren’t any) would not impact the Dodgers especially with the amount of equity Cohen would have in the team.
- Magic Johnson may be the sexy choice for LA Fans, but he would likely be pushing the threshold of debt required. I think he’s a bad choice choice. He’s have to re-pay debt from the new TV deal.
- Cohen is worth nearly $9 Billion – $1.6 or even $2 Billion is not nearly as significant to him as it is to the other bidders.
- The less debt the owner has, the more likely he is to be successful. More debt means that more bad things can happen (does anyone remember a guy named Frank McCourt?)
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Only fools use their own money to buy a business venture. The Dodgers will carry a debt to the tune of 1.0 to 1.25 Billion.
According to Forbes, MLB liked Cohen’s bid because it included $900,000,000.00 in equity what was dramatically higher than the other bidders.
Back to what Spring Training is for or does . . .
Gets the umpires in shape, and make adjustments to rules changes for both the umps and the managers/coaches/players.
Gets the media writers and broadcasters in shape. They need to get their own sayings rehearsed and develop some new ones, because the old ones are now really old.
By the third week of Spring Training, most of the staff and players begin to see and feel just how their chances are for the season. They know who is hitting the ball, who has work to do. How the new comers are doing, rookies are doing.
Checking the wire to see just which players are being released and which teams are signing them up for a look see.
Watching for the black rag sticking out of the locker of a player, to say they have been cut or going down.
We are now half-way through Spring Training. We should begin to see some players being reassigned, maybe some minor moves to fill injuries and voids.
I have noticed on Dodger TV games that attendance is low. Many empty seats. But it is hot out there
Is it true that the LA Times is now charging to read their newspaper on line?
I read it today and they didn’t charge me, but I’m sure they will at some juncture.
They are charging, but are allowing you to read 15 articles for free each 30 day period. Otherwise, it’s $4.00 per week ($3.99). If you are able to read now, it’s either because you are a subscriber (digital or print), or you’re not a subscriber and have not yet reached the 15 article limit. They are also offering a promotional rate of $0.99 for four weeks. But once that’s over, it’s $4.00 per week or a limit of 15 articles in a 30 day period for free.
$4.00 per week is $208 per year. Is it worth it? Individual decision I think. I’m not yet decided. Here’s the link if you want more info.
http://www.latimes.com/membership/faq/
If Cohen gets the team, who will over see baseball operations?
Cohen has more money. True!
Fox & Rupert Murdoch had lots of money and no debt too. That didn’t go so well.
$$ does not equal success.
NJ Dodger says “Who will oversee baseball operations?”
I am wondering the same thing.
Magic is the face behind Guber, Kasten, & Co.
Guber has BIG bucks. Also Kasten knows how to run an MLB franchise. Magic is a great PR guy besides being a shrewd extremely successful business man who loves this community.
I will roll the dice and go w/ the Magic group.
Cohen is no slouch & I am sure any one in his position is not going into this without a plan. But after the last “who is this guy?” moment AKA the McCourt purchase. I am hoping to have an idea who our next owner will be.
This is like the Republican Nomination Process……We have no control over who will be the next owner. I am just hoping for an owner with lots of bucks who will spend them on our team.
Arn Tellum will be the President and pick the rest of the management. I imagine it will be the off season if changes are made. Tellum is a smart guy.
None of us really knows enough about the bidders to really know which group is best for the Dodgers. Maybe it is Steve Cohen, maybe not. Money certainly matters, and it would appear that most, if not all, of the remaining groups have enough of it to make a difference in how this organization is run. And revenues at Dodger Stadium are likely to skyrocket compared to last year just given the pent up desire of Dodger fans to return to games under new ownership. And any new ownership is going to benefit from a monster TV deal that will go into effect in 2014. Probably will exceed $4 billion.
And while Cohen may well be the wealthiest individual involved, there is still the possibility of new players. For example, as Mike Petriello at MSTI says. “Still, I can’t help but wondering: where is Patrick Soon-Shiong?”
I don’t know if Soon-Shiong intends to become a player. But from what I’ve read, he’s the richest person in LA, and is reputedly worth about $7 billion. If he were to join the Magic Johnson group, they would suddenly become the most well-heeled group.
Personally, I don’t have a favorite. With the limited knowledge that I have, I am just hoping that it all turns out well.
I saw somewhere Tony LaRussa might be part of the Cohen group?
That’s a strong baseball man if we got him!
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Half way through Spring Training –and I notice that Mark’s favorite player, Uribe, is hitting only .083. But a bunch of non-roster and low roster guys are .300 and above.
exactly spring training doesn’t mean shitt.
Mark u still think Cohen is the best choice even with LaRussa .?
Who is Cohen’s baseball man? I guess the answer is Tony LaRussa.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgersnow/la-sp-dn-dodgers-tony-larussa-cohen-20120314,0,2055746.story
All of the buyers who plan to purchase the Dodgers with more than $300 million of debt will have to temporarily utilize the TV money to pay off their debt. Remember the MLB CBA now limits team debt to 8 times the average EBITDA. What was the Dodger EBITDA last year? When will we find out that it was actually zero?
When the Dodgers sign 2 big name free agents, raise their payroll to $130 mil, win at least the first round of the playoffs, sign a new TV contract and completely buy out Frank the Parking Lot Attendent then fans will flock to games, attendence will rise above 3.25 million and the Dodger EBITDA will be over $65 million thus allowing the Doodger owners to temporarily have a debt level of %500 million.
Whose financial plan/projection does Bud actually believe?
PS Good article
3.25 million????? Dodger attendance, even under McCourt, was 3.7 – 3.8 million, if memory serves. As I noted above, given the pent up desire of Dodger fans to return, I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if attendance reached 4 million or above. Potential is for (4,536,000), i.e., 56,000 x 81. And if this team becomes increasingly competitive, 4 million probably becomes likely.
By the way, anyone not subscribed to the LA Times cannot read the links to that paper (except maybe those still below the monthly limit of 15 articles read).
MLB Attendance records:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_attendance_records
Mark u still think Cohen is the best choice even with LuRussa .?
Yep
and whys that .?